Opinion: Making spyware illegal may help, but it'll take some new products that can prevent its installation to really protect against it.

WASHINGTON—When the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved the Internet Spyware Prevention Act of 2004 last week, some in Congress predicted that it would solve the problem of spyware that's wreaking havoc on many personal and enterprise computers.

The penalties—up to five years in prison for using spyware to further another illegal act such as identity theft—are serious. But some question whether it will do a lot of good.

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Continued here at eweek.